Industry

Apple has pulled a new dating app for unvaccinated people from its store, stating that the app was spreading misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccines.

According to PC Magazine, the app “Unjected” was initially reported to Apple by Bloomberg, who contacted the company when the dating app added a new social feature where users could publish their own posts. Many Unjected users began to add content containing conspiracy theories and misinformation about the pandemic and vaccines. This violated app store rules, which bans entertainment and gaming apps from using Covid-19 as a theme.

Apple told PC Magazine that Unjected broke other app store rules, too, namely by telling its users to avoid certain Covid-related words like “vaccine,” “jabbed,” and “microchip” because this might lead to the app being flagged and potentially banned from the store, which eventually it was.

Google is cracking down on so-called “sugar dating” apps in its Play Store, and will shut them down as of September 1st.

The search engine behemoth has carried dating apps that offer “compensated sexual relationships” in its store, but in the push to crack down on these potentially exploitative apps, the company has now issued a strict policy for its store. Google is making other safety and security changes too, including a new initiative to shut down inactive developer accounts, according to The Verge.

Google made the announcement without specifying why it’s taking these actions now, but The Verge points out that it could be related to the FOSTA-SESTA legislation which was enacted in 2018, “which removes Section 230 protections for content that ‘promotes or facilitates prostitution.’” There has been a recent crackdown on platforms that deal in online sex work. 

A new study from Pew found that almost half of dating app users still have concerns about safety and security, even as popular apps are starting to address these concerns with features like background checks.

According to the study, 46 percent of Americans view dating apps to be unsafe, for three main reasons. They are primarily concerned with other app users lying and misrepresenting themselves, as well as with people who set up spam accounts. They are also concerned about receiving unsolicited explicit messages or photos, all pervasive problems.

Apps have begun to address these issues. Tinder launched a background checks feature in recent months so users could check out matches before agreeing to meet. Dating conglomerate The Meet Group debuted face verification badges that are powered by AI technology, so that users could offer verified profiles. Bumble also debuted a new feature that uses AI technology to blur unsolicited photos that contain graphic and lude images, so its members don’t have to see the photos in order to report them.   

Google has revealed that searches for dating content have reached a five-year high, thanks in part to the growing interest in dating apps during the pandemic.

According to a report from NPR, the most popular dating search term, at least in the Washington D.C. area, was “how to date,” indicating that people are gearing up for meeting in-person again after a year and a half of lockdowns. Searches for “top dating apps 2021” also exploded 3400 percent over the last month, and “dating apps for older people” rocketed up 3500 percent. 

Dana Balch, a spokesperson for Tinder, told NPR that the app has seen some of its highest swiping days in the spring, when daters were gearing up for what was dubbed a ‘Hot Vax Summer.’ "I think this is really coming from a place where people want to connect with others during a time when they've felt isolated," she told NPR.

Dating conglomerate Match Group was ordered to pay $2 million USD to settle a civil lawsuit filed by Santa Cruz County involving the company’s practices when it comes to automatic renewals. Match Group app users complained of a confusing and difficult process when they wanted to terminate their accounts and were often unaware when the company automatically renewed their membership without notifying or asking them to do so.

According to The San Diego Union Tribune, the settlement was signed by a Santa Cruz Superior Court Judge in early July, and the company was ordered to pay civil penalties and victim restitution that amounted to $2 million. Match Group has also been ordered to change its renewal and termination processes to make them more transparent to customers, including getting consent from users via a checkbox before automatically renewing their subscriptions, and emailing customers confirmations of transactions.

“Consumers should be protected from practices that deceptively and unfairly force them to pay for something they don’t want,” L.A. District Attorney Gascón told Canyon News. “We want companies to thrive, but they should be mindful to not abuse technology tools to violate consumer protections.”

Dating app My Transsexual Date has announced it will be officially changing the name of its app to My Transgender Date.

This isn’t the first time the company changed the name of its app, in light of an evolving discourse on how transgender people would like to be identified. In a blog post the company shared, the app began as “My Ladyboy Date” when it launched in 2013, catering to a mostly Asian audience, and later changed to My Transsexual Date to appeal to a global audience. 

Founder Cyril Mazur wrote in a post announcing the move that when the company changed its name to My Transsexual Date, they did consider using the word “transgender” instead, but Mazur found it to be too Western-centric. He noted that in Latin America, which has a big trans population, the word “transexual” is used more than the word “transgenero” (transgender in Spanish), and he felt this was more inclusive among the global population.